image credit: Duke Research, Ariely conducted an experiment, putting either Cokes or cash into shared dormitory refrigerators. Seventy-two hours later, the Cokes were all gone, the money untouched.
STOP for a minute and ask yourself, “How did I rationalize my last next gen gadget purchase? Did I really need 8 more MB? Why do I feel compelled to take the shampoo from the hotel room when it’s not even a brand I would ever use?
Why do we humans continually behave in ways that fly in the face of logic? Even if we can’t admit it out-loud, we all do it. In denial? Read on.
I just finished the book Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. It’s not really a marketing book – I bought it because I’m fascinated with psychology. But, it turns out to be incredibly applicable to what we do…

Predictably Irrational details a series of social and psychological experiments that get to the root of human behavior patterns. As I was reading, I found myself devising ways we, as product marketers, could use these weaknesses in human behavior to our advantage. Yeah, at first a wave of shame washed over me until I remembered I CHOSE this profession and I KNOW other marketers have used my weaknesses against ME. In fact, I’m pretty sure point #2 is how I ended up buying a house that didn’t quite stack up to my list of house “must haves”.
Here’s a summary of what I learned (or was reminded of), but I recommend you read the book.
It’s what a rational person would do.
1. We are irrational beings…
a. …something we should all keep in mind when designing digital experiences. We tend to think, “Of course everyone will click here, do this, respond this way…” But, if we take in mind the insights below, we might do things differently – and more effectively.
2. We base decisions on the ability to compare like things.
a. Example: You’re in the market for a brick tudor house. Your realtor shows you one brick tudor at a low price and two sprawling ranches at the same higher price. All in all, the ranches stack up equally, but one of them needs a new roof. Even though the tudor is exactly what you were looking for, you had nothing to compare it with, so you concentrate on the two ranches. The ranch with the good roof looks like a steal compared to the one with the bad roof. So, you abandon the tudor and choose the good-roofed ranch. The book has loads of compelling examples to support this finding. Astonishing! (and embarrassing).
b. Once we see a product at a certain price, that price becomes our anchor for which to compare all other like items that follow – even if the original price was bogus.
3. Supply and demand is a fallacy.
a. Example: Long ago, a diamond dealer stumbled upon a slew of worthless black pearls. Fashion dictated diamonds and white pearls (not black) were the prized jewels of the day. So, the dealer contacted Harry Winston (famed jeweler) who displayed the lowly black pearls in his store window next to diamonds and white pearls with outrageous price tags. Due to proximity to other high priced jewelry, black pearls started flying off the shelves. Women started wearing the result of grains of sand tumbling around inside an ugly dark seashell and the dealer became a very wealthy man.
4. We will spend more for a product if it includes something that’s “free”. We’ll even compromise our standards to buy a lesser product if that lesser product includes a “freebie”. It’s worth reminding ourselves, none of it is EVER free, right?
5. We are happy to help others with favors. It gets a bit stickier when someone offers us money for a favor – especially is the offer is far less than the perceived value of the favor OR if the favor has anything to do with our day job. People are just better off asking for favors with no monetary exchange. Could you do me a favor and keep reading?
6. We make the most irrational decisions when we are in an excited state. Once we calm down, we think more clearly.
a. I won’t go into examples here. You’ll have to read the book.
7. Unless we are given a hard deadline, we tend to put off doing or deciding anything until the last minute. You have 15 minutes to finish reading this blog post.
8. We tend to overvalue the things we own and undervalue the things other people own.
a. Example: Say you’re having a garage sale because you’re moving to a smaller place. You no longer have room for the coffee table you made from your dear dead grandfather’s sailboat. It has some nicks and one leg is shorter than the others, but you price it at $350. Surely everyone else will see how beautiful it is. Everyone scoffs at your price. Can’t they see the love that went into it? Um, no. They don’t know or care about Grandpa, his boat or the sentiment you’ve attached to that rickety old thing.
9. We hate to feel like we have no options.
a. Example: Ever know someone that stays in an unfulfilling relationship even when someone better has just come along – for fear that the relationship with that “someone better” might fall through and they’d be left with no one?
10. We are all biased and, good news – branding works!
a. Example: This is a classic. Both Coke and Pepsi claimed that taste tests revealed consumers preferred their product. Later, it was revealed, Coke performed a blind taste test, meaning no mention of the product was given at the time of the test – therefore, their results must have been fairly accurate. Pepsi’s test was not blind. So, instead of making a rational decision based on taste alone, consumers were influenced by name recognition which caused Pepsi’s score to increase. Later, someone tested Coke and Pepsi against each other in a non-blind taste test. Coke beat Pepsi by a mile, partially due to taste, but mainly due to the fact that Coke was pummeling consumers with a very effective campaign at the time of testing.
11. We tend to convince ourselves higher price = higher quality. Conversely, if it’s discounted, there must be something wrong with it.
12. Our tolerance for dishonesty is directly proportionate with our perception of the severity of the crime.
a. Example: While you might look the other way when a co-worker pockets a stack of sticky notes from the supply closet, you might report them if you caught them systematically disassembling and toting away parts, one by one, from their Aeron chair. They’re both stolen, right?
13. When given the chance, most people will cheat…but only a little.
a. We feel we’ll be busted if we use ALL of the correct answers from the teacher’s copy of our final exam. But, if we use only a few, and get just a bit more correct than we would if left to our own intelligence, it will go unnoticed. Liar, liar, pants on fire.
b. People WANT to feel as if they’re getting away with something. Marketer alert! Give the people what they want.
c. Any reminder of a moral code will cause most people to abandon all notions of cheating. Example: When reminded of the existence of The Ten Commandments or an honor code, study participants did not cheat at all – even if they did cheat in a previous test with no moral reminders.
d. On a related note, while some people might rationalize and feel OK about stealing THINGS (say, an office pen), most people wouldn’t dare steal MONEY (say, the cost of the office pen out of petty cash).
14. Most people want to distinguish themselves from the crowd and prove they are independent thinkers. You’ve gotten near the end of this post, which is probably farther than most. So, consider yourself the exception.
a. Example: When ordering in restaurant in a group, each person will tend to take into consideration what the others have ordered so they can order something different – even if it means NOT ordering the dish they wanted most. When restaurant patrons were asked to secretly write down what they wanted to order, without knowing what the others have ordered, they ordered many of the same things (perhaps more swayed by the description on the menu rather than the pressure to be unique). Lessen: always order first and get what you want!

This book helped me to realize (and remember) all the crazy mental and emotional forces that drive our decisions. We are not alone in our tendency to behave against our better judgment – our customers, users and clients are right there with us.
So, the next time you catch yourself saying about your users “Of course everyone will click here, do this, respond this way…” or throwing your arms up in frustration when your client doesn’t do what’s CLEARLY good for them, keep all of this lunacy in mind.
Now, how do we use this to our advantage??? The wheels are cranking. Mwaa ha ha!
Sandy Marsh